It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.

Note to Our Readers:We strive to keep active links in our newsletter. However, due to circumstances beyond our control, occasionally links to stories may become broken. If you find a link to a story is not functioning, please cut and paste the headline into your browser search bar. In most cases you should be able to locate the original story.

FEATURED STORYExclusive Interview with Alfredo Quarto, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Mangrove Action Project
USA - Mangrove deforestation, due to the shrimp industry, tourism development and other human-caused factors, has resulted in countless deaths around the globe when ocean-borne natural disasters strike. Alfredo Quarto is on a mission to save these unique life-saving trees. Growing in intertidal areas between land and sea, mangroves live in two worlds at once. They are known as the “rainforests of the sea,” and once called the “roots of the sea” by a Thai fisherman. From providing coastal protection from erosion to serving as important fish nurseries and providing wood to local communities to sequestering CO2 and storing massive amounts of carbon, mangroves provide numerous vital ecosystem services. In particular, mangrove forests—which grow along shorelines and up to a few miles inland—provide a natural barrier against giant waves and water incursions from storms, tsunamis and hurricanes. But unfortunately, they are being destroyed around the world at an alarming rate due to rampant coastal development. READ MORE

ASIA

Rehabilitating Mangroves in the Philippines
PHILIPPINES - Global mangrove coverage fell by about 20% from 1980 to 2000, with the greatest reduction in Asia. Clearing has occurred for reasons such as property development and waste dumping. Around 50% of mangrove loss, however, has been to fish ponds for commercial shrimp farming. ZSL’s mangrove rehabilitation project will ensure greater food security, lower risk from natural disasters and increased household income for local communities, as well as many environmental benefits, such as increased biodiversity in the region. ZSL collaborated with Philippine governmental organizations to set up a Community-based Rehabilitation Project in 2008, that will regenerate lost coastal mangrove forest. More mangrove forests will provide better livelihoods and protection for coastal communities. Hundreds of fish ponds are left abandoned, but if they are still under lease they cannot be rehabilitated. ZSL has been working get Fishpond Lease Agreements (FLAs) cancelled so that new healthy mangrove forests can be cultivated. Over 55 hectares are being converted. READ MORE

Locals win over Chevron's deep sea port
THAILAND – “If we allow heavy industries to build here, there will be no fresh and delicious seafood dishes like this” said a local fisherman of Sa Bua village in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Tha Sala district. Sa Bua villagers have joined their fellow fisherfolk from several villages in Tha Sala district to protect marine resources and the locals livelihoods from destructive activities over the past decade. They fought their most recent battle against the US company Chevron’s port and chemical storage site in tambon Klai of Tha Sala. The project was intended to support the company’s oil drilling and exploration work in the Gulf of Thailand. Undeterred by the influence of the oil giant, Tha Sala fisherfolk came up with campaigns to convince policymakers and the public that their locality is one of the country’s most abundant food sources. They argued that turning this land into Chevron’s shore base would destroy marine resources and the livelihoods of thousands of people, most of them making a living from the fishery and related businesses. READ MORE

Why the Andaman Islands Are Headed for Disaster
THAILAND - From poaching animals to illegal logging, from sexually exploiting the local tribes to getting them addicted to alcohol, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands are facing a crisis that few on the Indian mainland are noticing. Unwilling to halt the ecological and human disaster, the administration is instead now trying to intimidate a senior journalist who has doggedly reported the local corruption and the plight of the tribes. When Denis Giles, editor of the newspaper Andaman Chronicle, publicized a shocking complaint by a man from the Jarawa tribe on February 1, he expected to get a great many people into trouble. In the audio clip, the Jarawa man named 18 settlers who habitually visit the Jarawa Reserve to poach animals and have sex with indigenous women, offering in return alcohol, marijuana and other enticements. Such interactions are illegal on multiple counts because the Jarawa are one of the most vulnerable tribes in the world – they number about 420 and a single virus, such as HIV, could wipe them out. What Giles did not expect was that he himself would become a person of interest to the police. READ MORE

Aquaculture Project Threatens Mangroves and Fishers Livelihood
THAILAND - The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) urges the Perak state government to investigate and take immediate action to resolve the problem faced by about 500 small fishers in Kampung Sungai Tuntung, Panchor and Pengkalan Bharu near Pantai Remis whose livelihood have been threatened by aquaculture projects in this area. Besides threatening fishery resource and income of fishers, the shrimp and crab culture projects have also destroyed hundreds of hectares of mangroves in this area and have polluted the river and sea by discharging effluents from the ponds. From a survey done by CAP, we understand from fishers that part of the mangroves that were destroyed to make way for aquaculture projects were originally permanent reserved forest i.e. Tanjung Burung Forest Reserve that should be protected and conserved. However what is happening now is that our natural heritage is being destroyed for aquaculture projects. READ MORE

Students practice hands-on activities on mangrove ecosystem
BANGLADESH - Mangrove plays a vital role to protect lives and livelihoods of coastal people and biodiversity. Mangrove trees help in adaptation by non-timber economic products and protecting winds of cyclone. It also contributes in climate mitigation by sequestrating excessive carbon from the atmosphere. Considering the importance of mangroves for the civilization, CLEAN and Humanitywatch have been implementing Marvelous Mangroves Curriculum in the coastal schools to form a children and youth conservation activists in Bangladesh. As one of the activities under the program, a team of 10 school-students, three teachers and 5 activists visited Karamjal Tourist point of the Sundarbans on 30 January 2014 and practiced a number of hands-on activities their as a part of conservation education. Teachers and students of Laudob Secondary School helped the team to organize the program. Independent consultant Mafruza Khan, CLEAN facilitator Hasan Mehedi, Humanitywatch programme coordinator Shariful Islam Salim, campaign officer Nasim Rahman Kiron, environmentalist Rezaul Karim Zitu, Laudob School teacher Tarun Kanti Mondal and Shachindranath Sardar participated with the children among others. READ MORE

Mangrove forest set to become Ramsar site
MALAYSIA – A remaining patch of mangrove forest located close to the city’s downtown area is set to become Sabah’s second Ramsar site. Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Yahya Hussin said the Ramsar designation for the 24ha Kota Kinabalu Wetlands Centre (KKWC) would help draw international recognition of the mangrove forest’s ecological importance. “This is certainly good news for Sabah,” he said after launching the International Weltands Day Cele-bration at the KKWC. Ramsar sites are wetlands of international importance, designated under the Ramsar Convention. Sabah’s first Ramsar site is the 79,000ha bio-diversity rich Lower Kinabatangan-Segama wetlands in the east coast. Yahya said the designation of KKWC as the state’s second Ramsar site would help the conservation or careful use of remaining wetlands. READ MORE

AFRICA

Valuing Africa's Mangrove Forests
SOUTH AFRICA - Despite the well-researched and recognized socio-economic and ecological values of mangroves worldwide, mangrove ecosystems are among the world's most threatened vegetation types. More than half of all original forests have already been lost. This depletion is cause for serious environmental and economic concern in many developing countries. Mangroves, located between the sea and the land, play a pivotal role in moderating monsoonal tidal floods and in coastal protection. They also support numerous forms of fauna and flora, as well as fisheries. In addition, mangroves have the ability to sequester large amounts of carbon dioxide and therefore act as important tools for climate change mitigation. The continuing degradation and depletion of mangroves therefore severely threatens the livelihoods of people dependent on mangrove ecosystem services and functions. READ MORE

Mangroves in Africa
MOZAMBIQUE - Mangroves are invaluable for fuel, fishing, climate change, disaster protection and tourism, but are rarely valued and protected appropriately. We spoke to Romy Chevallier, a researcher with SAIIA's Governance of Africa's Resources Programme who has recently been to Mozambique to conduct field research on mangroves, about this rare and misunderstood resource.We asked her:

What are mangrove forests and why are they important?

How do local communities in mangrove areas benefit from them?

Why are mangroves under threat, and how might we protect and conserve them? READ MORE

AMERICAS

Farmed Shrimp Are Killing the Ocean
USA - I’ll be the first to tell you that I love a good shrimp alfredo, shrimp pad thai, or tempura shrimp. Unfortunately, we all may need to evaluate our love for these tasty crustaceans in the future, because there’s some ominous news emerging about shrimp farms — approximately 30% of the seafood we import is shrimp — and it’s time to get serious about whether we want to eat good seafood…or bad. And I’m not talking about the seafood that makes you crouch over the toilet all night versus the kind that’s been handled right. Sustainability is a growing concern with seafood as the industry gets larger and consumers eat more. The world’s oceans provide a bounty of food, but fisheries as well as fish farms need to be managed responsibly to ensure that future generations will be able to take advantage of them, and to protect the environment. Some fish are so unsustainable that wild-caught specimens aren’t good choices if you care about the environment (such as the orange roughy) and farmed shrimp is among the farmed specimens that isn’t a good idea to eat because of the environmental costs. READ MORE

To Save Fish and Birds
USA - One of the few bright spots in the struggle to protect the world’s fragile oceans has been the rapidly increasing number of “marine-protected areas,” places where fishing is limited or banned and where, presumably, depleted species can recover by simply being left to themselves. The benefits of hands-off environmental protection may seem self-evident. But creating a preserve and rebuilding a healthy ecosystem are not necessarily the same thing. A recent study published in Nature found that, more often than not, marine-protected areas don’t work as well as they could. Researchers with the University of Tasmania studied 87 marine-protected areas in 40 countries worldwide, and found that 59 percent of the areas were no better off than areas where fishing was allowed. The reasons for failure varied, but they boiled down to this: Not all marine-protected areas are alike. Some allow fishing; others forbid it. Some are managed well; others are managed badly. Some are relatively intact; others have been left barren by generations of overfishing. READ MORE

County acts on mangrove destruction
USA – Following a story we brought you earlier, the property owner who damaged a mangrove swamp on Manasota Key has been given a notice of violation and a strict plan as to how to correct the damage. It happened Saturday along Manasota Key Road. Dozens of mangroves were chopped down and a lagoon was starting to be filled in. Amy Meese, general manager of Sarasota County Natural Resources, is thankful destruction like that doesn't happen very often. "A habitat level impact like this is pretty rare." Sarasota County and the State of Florida, both of which designate the plant as protected, say it keeps shorelines from eroding and provides protection for the youngest of some species. “Mangroves are the nursery of our costal organisms. They go out into our coastal waters and represent the adult population.” READ MOREThe Prawn Goodbye
USA - Despite what hackneyed reality shows like Big Shrimpin’ and Ragin’ Cajuns would have you believe, the majority of our shrimp aren’t caught in the wild by mono-toothed shrimpers with names like Blimp and Pecker Head. They’re farm-raised in big, boring aquaculture ponds. For better or worse—probably worse, considering the system’s brutal environmental impact—this type of industrial shrimp farming has managed to sustain our growing craving for crustaceans over the past quarter century. But there’s something in the water: A mysterious, untreatable disease is laying waste to shrimp farms around the world, driving up prices and threatening your next scampi.Between Costco’s colossal cocktail platters, the Outback Steakhouse’s all-you-can-eat deals, and Red Lobster’s Shrimp Lover’s Tuesday, an average American consumes almost four pounds of shrimp a year—three times as much as they did 30 years ago and far more than any other seafood product. That translates into 1.2 billion pounds of delicious shrimp eaten in the United States every year, over 90 percent of which is imported. Increasingly, those shrimp are raised in aquaculture farms located in tropical parts of the world like Thailand, Indonesia, China, India, Mexico and Ecuador. READ MORE

LAST WORD

WHAT? No Last Word?We welocme your comments and letter.

~ WE WELOCME YOUR LETTERS - If you’d like to have the last word on this or any other mangrove related topic, please send us your submission for upcoming newsletters. We’ll choose one per issue to have “the last word”. While we can’t promise to publish everyone’s letter, we do encourage anyone to post comments on our Blog at www. mangroveactionproject.blogspot.com

Please cut and paste these news alerts/ action alerts on to your own lists and contacts. Help us spread the word and further generate letters of concern, as this can make a big difference in helping to halt a wrongdoing or encourage correct action.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) urges the Perak state government
to investigate and take immediate action to resolve the problem faced by about
500 small fishers in Kampung Sungai Tuntung, Panchor and Pengkalan Bharu near
Pantai Remis whose livelihood have been threatened by aquaculture projects in
this area.

Besides threatening fishery resource and income of fishers, the
shrimp and crab culture projects have also destroyed hundreds of hectares of
mangroves in this area and have polluted the river and sea by discharging effluents
from the ponds.

From a survey done by CAP, we understand from fishers that part of
the mangroves that were destroyed to make way for aquaculture projects were
originally permanent reserved forest i.e. Tanjung Burung Forest Reserve that should
be protected and conserved. However what
is happening now is that our natural heritage is being destroyed for
aquaculture projects.

Hence, CAP urges the Perak Forestry Department and Manjung District Land
Office (Pejabat Tanah dan Galian Daerah Manjung) to investigate the complaint
and make public their findings, especially to local fisher community regarding the
status of the mangroves that have been affected by the aquaculture projects
here.

Nordin Mohd Hasim, 42, a fisherman here stated that since the
aquaculture project started, their catch of fish and crabs have dwindled. Previously, the fishers here could get an
income of more than RM200 per day but now at times they return home
empty-handed or with a meager income of RM30 per day.

Alias Said, 61, said that previously he could get a catch of about
20kg of ikan sembilang (eel-tailed catfish) per day but now if fortunate he
gets only 5kg per day. He opines that if the destruction of mangroves continues
fish and crabs which are the main catch here will become extinct and fishers
will lose their source of income.

CAP is disappointed that mangroves are continued to be destroyed and
till now no effective action is being taken to protect them. CAP also urges the Fisheries Department,
Department of Environment (DOE) and Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID)
to investigate this issue and take stern and appropriate action to resolve the
problems faced by fishers here.

It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.

Note to Our Readers:We strive to keep active links in our newsletter. However, due to circumstances beyond our control, occasionally links to stories may become broken. If you find a link to a story is not functioning, please cut and paste the headline into your browser search bar. In most cases you should be able to locate the original story.

FEATURED STORYMAP 40,000ha of mangrove forest in Malaysia threatened by land clearing
MALAYSIA - One of Malaysia’s biggest mangrove ecosystems is under threat as land clearing activities have begun at a patch near Kampung Kuala Gula. At over 40,000ha, the Matang mangrove forest in Perak’s Kerian district is the largest mangrove ecosystem in the peninsula, but it was subject to a series of land clearing activities last week. Friends of Mangroves (FoM) chairman Zakaria Mohamed said about 6ha of mangroves had been cleared to pave way for the construction of a shrimp farm located about 30km from here. The area is near the popular Kuala Gula bird sanctuary, where an estimated 200,000 birds stop over during the migration season between August and April every year. “What upsets us the most is seeing our efforts in rehabilitating the mangrove swamps go down the drain,” Zakaria said. READ MORE

ASIA

World Wetlands Day: Need to save our marshlands and mangroves
INDIA - "Only after the last tree has been cut down, only after the last river has been poisoned, only after the last fish has been caught, only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten." -- Cree Indian prophecy. For yet another anniversary of World Wetlands Day today (February 2), worried environmentalists all over the planet tend to agree with this Cree Indian philosophy, suggesting that there is an urgent need to save our marshlands and mangroves. The sight of dead mangroves standing still in the disturbed wetland near Seawoods railway station, as hectic landfill and flattening work takes place at the site to lay the 27-km Nerul-Uran railway line, makes for a sad, contrasting picture. What were lush green mangroves just a year ago are now simply deadwood standing in the shrunken marsh. These mangroves have paid the price of development work of the railway line. Earlier, part of this area was reclaimed for the tracks layout, after which these mangroves slowly started dying,'' said a local resident, Baldev Singh. READ MORE

Editor’s Note: This closed door system CP is using sounds closely related to an idea MAP has been pushing since 1996 when it recommended closed-system approach for shrimp farming. The problem is though that this approach does not really constitute a "closed system" approach as it should be devised. It still represents one end of an open system approach which is not sustainable.CPF method seeks to curb shrimp disease fatalities
THAILAND - The disease has halved Thai shrimp production to about 300,000 tonnes this year. EMS caused serious damage to shrimp farming in China in 2009 and in Vietnam and Malaysia in 2010. It was first detected in shrimp farms in Thailand in late 2011. The toll of the disease is mass mortality of shrimp during the first 20-30 days of culture in grow-out ponds. CPF executive vice-president Sujint Thammasart expressed confidence that the close-door, biosecure system is an effective way to prevent disease and boost production. CPF's shrimp production is expected to increase from 30,000 tonnes in 2013 to 50,000 tonnes next year.
"We forecast that both production and price will continue to rise after shrimp farmers solve EMS," said Mr Sujint, who oversees aquatic farming research at CPF.
The unit has taken more than a year to figure out how to battle the disease, introducing the solution at the Roiphet Farm in Trat. READ MORE

Asian megacities being menaced by the sea
PHILIPPINES - Typhoon Haiyan hitting the Philippines in November was yet another devastating reminder of what climate-related extreme weather may mean for coastal communities. While the underlying causes and the full impact of the typhoon are yet to be known, this disaster was by no means an isolated occurrence. Several studies indicate that coastal communities in Asia are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and among the hardest hit will be the region's megacities. The sprawling cities by the sea - cities like Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta - face an increased risk of flooding thanks to the combined impacts of sea level rise, storm surge from intensified tropical cyclones and land subsidence. The ecological vulnerability of these cities is exacerbated by the fact that Asian cities are some of the most populous in the world and continue to grow at a staggering rate. A 2007 OECD study estimates that by 2070, of the 20 coastal cities with the highest population exposure to coastal flooding, 15 would be Asian. READ MORE

Editor’s Note: India may be increasing its production of shrimp now, and taking advantage of EMS forced reductions elsewhere, such as the 50% decline in Thailand's shrimp production caused by Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS). However this big boost in India production may come at a later great cost to those investing in this production surge, if EMS later strikes in India. It may well happen, as now EMS is seen in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Mexico. This jump to Mexico signifies the kind of rapid spread of these kinds of viruses. In any case, it looks like the US is still a number one importer and consumer of shrimp though the price increase and less reliable sourcing may dampen the appetite of many US importers and consumers.Shrimp exports rise 90%
INDIA - There has been a whopping increase in shrimp exports recorded during the April–December period of the current financial year. Earnings from exports increased 89.89% during the period to Rs 14,364.45 crore versus Rs 7564.79 crore in the same period last fiscal. According to Anwar Hashim, a leading exporter and former president of Seafood Exporters Association of India [SEAI] this upsurge was due to two major factors - serious fall in the production and export of shrimp from South East Asian countries and the lowering of countervailing duty [CVD] on Indian shrimp in USA. READ MORE

China stays world’s top seafood exporter
CHINA – China’s seafood exports broke the USD 20 billion (EUR 14.7 billion) mark last year for the first time. Fisheries officials in China will be ecstatic that 2013 export of aquatic products totaled USD 20.26 billion (EUR 14.9 billion), from volume of 3.95 million metric tons (MT) — an increase of 4.15 percent and 6.74 percent respectively. This means China keeps its place as the world’s top exporter of seafood. Yet it appears that China is also growing its imports faster. The brief note from the ministry of agriculture doesn’t give a figure for imports. Interestingly, the figure given for “total import and export of aquatic products” in 2013 is 8,129,000 MT, or USD 28.9 billion (EUR 21.3 billion), up 2.58 percent and 7.12 percent, respectively. That suggests that imports (a large percentage of which are for re-export) shaded exports in overall volume terms. READ MORE

‘We will do our best to save city’s mangroves’
INDIA – The chief conservator of forests (mangroves cell) N Vasudevan, who visited the city on the eve of World Wetlands Day on Saturday, told TOI illegal activities along the city coast that damaged the green cover was disconcerting. "Mangroves in several places in the city have been damaged or destroyed by certain elements. We are now planning to take concrete steps to stop any further degradation of the forest areas," said Vasudevan. He said change can be implemented only if local authorities such as City and Industrial Development Corporation ( Cidco) and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) cooperate. "The support of local authorities is vital. I am confident that positive work will be done soon," he added. READ MORE

AFRICA

Mangroves in Africa
MOZAMBIQUE - Mangroves are invaluable for fuel, fishing, climate change, disaster protection and tourism, but are rarely valued and protected appropriately. We spoke to Romy Chevallier, a researcher with SAIIA's Governance of Africa's Resources Programme who has recently been to Mozambique to conduct field research on mangroves, about this rare and misunderstood resource. We asked her: What are mangrove forests and why are they important? How do local communities in mangrove areas benefit from them? Why are mangroves under threat, and how might we protect and conserve them? During your work in the field, were the communities you met with aware of their role in protecting mangroves? READ MORE

AMERICAS

Blue Carbon Report Proves Climate Benefits of Restoration
USA - Today, Restore America's Estuaries has released the findings of a groundbreaking study that confirms the climate mitigation benefits of restoring tidal wetland habitat in the Snohomish Estuary, located within the nation's second largest estuary: Puget Sound. The study, the first of its kind, finds major climate mitigation benefits from wetland restoration and provides a much needed approach for assessing carbon fluxes for historic drained and future restored wetlands which can now be transferred and applied to other geographies. The Study, "Coastal Blue Carbon Opportunity Assessment for Snohomish Estuary: The Climate Benefits of Estuary Restoration" finds that currently planned and in-construction restoration projects in the Snohomish estuary will result in at least 2.55 million tons of CO2 sequestered from the atmosphere over the next 100-years. This is equivalent to the 1-year emissions for 500,000 average passenger cars. If plans expanded to fully restore the Snohomish estuary, the sequestration potential jumps to 8.9 million tons of CO2, or, in other terms, equal to the 1-year emissions of about 1.7 million passenger cars. READ MORE

EUROPE

The problem with this "integrated system" of shrimp farming is that there is not enough area set aside for the stated purpose of creating a healthy mangrove wetland. It is like suggesting a field of potted mangroves will constitute a healthy mangrove forest. Healthy, functioning mangrove forests need a greater extent of mangroves than a mere 50% mangrove / 50% shrimp farm. The figures that mangrove experts have cited are more to the tune of 80% mangrove/ 20% shrimp farm, and in this way a more healthy, biodiverse ecosystem can be maintained while a still productive, but smaller-scale shrimp farm can be managed. I think this existing system has merits in reducing some of the big problems with shrimp culture, but it cannot really promise to bring back a healthy functioning wetland, and will in essence open the door to further degraded, partially functioning mangrove areas.Protection of mangroves and organic shrimp go hand in hand
VIETNAM - A four-year mangrove forest protection plan, funded by the German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, will help sustain both, ecosystem and shrimp farmers in the south of Vietnam. Last May, 1,075 households living in Vietnam southernmost province of Ca Mau's Nhung Mien Protective Forest were invited to take part in an initiative to get organic shrimp certification by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Netherlands Development Organisation. The project focuses on a group of about 2,700 farmers who use an integrated shrimp farming model in mangrove forests, in which each family has to invest 60 per cent of the land for the development of mangroves. Although they may get significantly lower yields per hectare than intensive shrimp farms, they have lower costs, and a reduced risk of crop failure. READ MORE

Europe-based groups to fund mangrove reforestation
GERMANY – Europe-based groups have said that they are willing to fund the mangrove plantation and rehabilitation in Negros Occidental. The two groups, Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the German Development Cooperation Deustche Gesselsschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), are conducting a three-day forum on the conservation of mangrove, beach forests, and fishponds in Western Visayas at Palmas del Mar Resort in Bacolod City since Tuesday, February 11, 2014. Patrick Schwab, chief advisor for Adaptation to Climate Change in Coastal Areas Project of the GIZ, said that through the forum, the partnership hopes to determine the site for mangrove plantation because it is not appropriate just to plant mangroves is any coastal area, Schwab said. According to the partnership, mangroves and beach forest play an important role in climate change adaptation and mitigation, and flinging mangroves form part of the coastal green belts that protect local communities from increasingly intense and frequent storms, and storm surges as experienced during Super Typhoon Yolanda's wrath across the Visayas. READ MORE

LAST WORD

WHAT? No Last Word?Write us!

~ WE WELOCME YOUR LETTERS - If you’d like to have the last word on this or any other mangrove related topic, please send us your submission for upcoming newsletters. We’ll choose one per issue to have “the last word”. While we can’t promise to publish everyone’s letter, we do encourage anyone to post comments on our Blog at www. mangroveactionproject.blogspot.com

Please cut and paste these news alerts/ action alerts on to your own lists and contacts. Help us spread the word and further generate letters of concern, as this can make a big difference in helping to halt a wrongdoing or encourage correct action.